Many of us are familiar with the Pengaton's Cheetah robot — the world's fastest mechanical mammal. But that feline brute is rather big and, well, even a bit severe. Thankfully, there's now a kinder, gentler version — the cheetah-cub robot.

18 miles an hour may not seem terribly fast, but that's the new land record for legged…
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Developed by EPFL's Biorobotics Laboratory, cheetah-cub's legs were designed to mimic feline morphology. It's got three leg segments on each leg, and the proportions match those of a real cat. Springs are used to replicate the function of tendons, while actuators perform the role of muscles.

And like a real cat, it's small, light, stable — and fast. And in fact, it's now the fastest robot in its category, namely trotting quadruped robots that are under 66 pounds (30 kg). This little guy can run nearly seven times its body length in one second, reaching a maximum speed of 1.42 m/s (3.2 mph).